PNG Air yesterday reported a much improved position for 2025 to its shareholders at the company’s annual general meeting.
Chief executive officer Brian Fraser reported a pre-tax loss of K12.2 million for the year, which compared favourably with the 2024 loss of K26.2 million – an improvement of 53.4 per cent.
Net loss also improved by about the same factor from K20.2 million the previous year to K9.9 million in 2025.
Revenue increased to K326.5 million from K253.9 million. Cash balances strengthened to K27.3 million supporting fleet transition.
An upbeat Fraser said the 2025 financial year represented a “defining chapter in PNG Air’s transformation-one where the airline moved decisively from restructuring toward recovery, and from survival toward sustainable growth”.
He admitted that PNG Air had faced unprecedented challenges in the past years from the global disruption of the Coronavirus to domestic operational pressures and financial restructuring.
He said the journey has required “discipline, resilience, and unwavering commitment from our people and stakeholders”.
Fraser credited the performance to a combination of strong charter demand, improving operational reliability, and the early benefits of fleet transition from the aging Dash aircrafts to the modern ATR series.
He said when the board decided to fully exit the Dash-8 platform and shift toward an all-ATR fleet, it caused a non-cash impairment totalling K9.7 million.
The company is now disposing of the Dash-8s while increasing its ATR fleet.
Fraser said the underlying business had stabilised and was now moving into a recovery and growth phase.
He said that the airline had now embarked on a three-year transformation strategy.
The first strategy is fleet modernisation and simplification, moving from retiring Dash-8 to the more modern ATR 600 fleet.
During the year, the airline took delivery of three ATR aircraft and as of yesterday, four additional 72 series aircraft had been inducted and are operation bringing the fleet total to 10.
By September, PNG Air expects to increase the total ATR fleet to 16 aircraft.
A second element of the strategy is to restore capacity and strengthen network.
“With additional aircraft entering the fleet, we are progressively restoring scheduled passenger capacity to ports that were previously underserviced, such as Popondetta, Gurney, Kieta and Kavieng,” Fraser said.
“Increased frequency is delivering choice to both communities and businesses.
“Fleet expansion has also afforded the opportunity to reinstate and rebuild services to regional and remote communities such as Vanimo and soon Moro.”
A third element of its strategy is to expand charter operations, a key factor in its strong performance last year.
Fraser said charter operations provide stable and high-quality revenue streams, particularly within the resource sector.
In the year under review, the airline strengthened relationships with key clients; maintained strong performance under long-term contracts; and positioned the business to secure additional ad-hoc charter opportunities
Other elements include operation performance and reliability and investing in people.
The successful completion of the K29.8 million capital raising during the year was a critical milestone which strengthened liquidity, supported fleet acquisition and transition and reinforced investor confidence in PNG Air’s strategy, Fraser concluded.
He reported that total assets increase to K640.3 million reflecting fleet investment and net liabilities were reduced significantly.
“While we are not yet at positive equity, the trajectory is undeniably positive,” he said.
The company priorities this year are to:
- COMPLETE ATR fleet induction and achieve a fully modernised fleet;
- FULLY exist the Dash-8 platform, eliminating legacy cost structures;
- RESTORE full network capacity and rebuild market share;
- EXPAND long-term charter contracts to provide a quality and stable revenue stream;
- CONTINUE to drive cost discipline and operational efficiency; and,
- DELIVER sustainable profitability.
Fraser said challenges remained, particularly in fuel costs, foreign exchange exposure, and operating environment but he said the company was better equipped now than previously to manage them.
